Tag: Enchanted Landscapes: A Symphonic Poem

Colorado Springs Philharmonic
Conductor: Josep Caballé Domenech
Date: March 18, 2017
Enchanted Landscapes: A Symphonic Poem
Ofer Ben-Amots
Of all the commissioned pieces for the 90th season of the Philharmonic, I thought this was one of the stronger pieces. While it didn't have any of the musical motifs of the original "America the Beautiful," it had an inspiration all its own that conveyed the power of the original. Starting and ending in a somber tone, "Enchanted Landscapes" paints an auditory picture of a cloudy day on Pike's Peak. Then, suddenly, a storm whips up! With thunder and lightning, wind and rain, the peaceful calm are broken by nature's fury. Almost at once, quiet falls on the mountain as snow starts slowly fluttering down. Finally, the storm has passed, and all is quiet on the peak once more.
Nänie
Johannes Brahms
For a piece about death and dying, I found Brahms' interpretation of this poem to be a little more high-energy than I was expecting. Gone are the lamentations of a life...